Let Sleeping Dogs Lie
by kubomi
Summary: Harry comes to Draco's rescue, but Draco doesn't remember anything. What happens as they start to build a relationship? How do other people take it? What will happen? YAOI HPDM, HGRW
1. Chapter 1

Like you all know, HP is not mine, it is the property of J.K Rowling, (all bow down to the woman richer than the queen!) Please don't sue me, cause I have no money or anything anyone would want…

Definite yaoi undertones. Actually, make that blatant yaoi-ness! Hohoho! You have been warned!

He was cold. Pulling at his scant clothing, he hurried through the back alleyways that he knew so well. He was coming down from his last high, and he knew that he would have to find a way to get another hit soon. And to do that, he needed some money. The last time that he had tried to get some money was when he offered to clean the windows of those _muggle cars._

_Muggle_.__

He didn't know where the word came from, but he regarded it with a sort of contempt. He couldn't exactly place where it came from, but he wasn't eager to try and remember either. He knew now that it was a good thing that he did not remember, would not even try to remember. Looking around though, he realised that it was too late to be looking for car windows to clean; the respectable people of this city would have already gone home. 

_So it will have to be the other way._  

Looking around, he headed towards the nearest club that he was familiar with. _The Viper's Nest. The first time that he entered the establishment, there had seemed a sense of irony that he had laughed at. Only now he couldn't remember what was so ironic about the place. Heading down the flight of stairs, he pushed open the door with already shaking hands. _

The thrumming of bass and the hum of people talking hit him like a wave, but he was used to such surroundings. He had been living this life ever since… _ever since what? Shaking his head, he cleared his thoughts. He had only one agenda on his mind. Scoping out the place, he headed towards the bar. Knowing that it wouldn't take long, he ordered a whisky, and sat down. Looking around the club, he saw many other people his age dancing on the dance floor, moving to the music, watching with a mix of morbid fascination as a red-haired boy and a brown haired girl gyrated obscenely together, rubbing themselves close to each other._

"So, do you come here often?" _Oh. What a refreshingly ingenious pick up line._ Turning around, he looked into the almost black eyes of a man that was perhaps bordering on middle age, neatly dressed in a suit._ Older than me, but still good looking. _ 

            "No. Just occasionally. And you?"

            "Ah. No." Slyly, he glanced over. "But I am glad that I did tonight." The unspoken suggestion hung heavily in the air. 

Deciding to waste no time, the young man stood up. "If you'll excuse me, I have to go to the bathroom…" he gave the man a pointed look before waltzing off to the men's room. Walking in, he headed straight towards an empty cubicle at the far end of the room. Just as he was entering, he was roughly pushed from behind, and he heard the door slam shut behind him. Turning around, he was met with the sight of the man from the bar. Immediately, the man leant forward and started to kiss him on the neck, opening the neck of his shirt, hands groping around, rubbing at the pale skin of his chest.

"My, you're so beautiful…." Looking into his eyes, he started to unbuckle his belt. "Such a lovely mouth you have." _I know where this is going. Hopefully he won't last long._ Finally having undone his belt, he opened his trousers to reveal his erect manhood. Taking his cue, the young man trailed his mouth down the side of the mans neck, down his exposed chest, pausing on the way to flick his tongue over one of the man's stiff nipples, eliciting a muffled moan from the stranger. 

Still moving downwards, he flickered his tongue into the man's navel before reaching his goal. Opening his mouth wide, he took in the other man all the way to the hilt. He felt a hand grasp at his long hair, painfully twining it around strong fingers. Goaded on by this reaction, he slowly pulled his head back before moving forward again, and again, and again. Finally, after what seemed like a lifetime, the man came into his mouth, groaning as he ground his hips towards the younger man's face. 

Pulling back, he settled down on his knees on the floor, both men taking a moment to regain their breath. "You really do have a beautiful mouth, you know." The man said as he re-zipped his pants. Taking out his wallet, he dumped a wad of notes on the floor. "Why don't you go buy yourself something to put into it, hmm? You look like you need it." With that, he left the cubicle, straightening his tie as he left.          

~ ~ ~

_"…you look like you need it" Who did the man think he was? Why care about someone like me?_ Looking around, he headed into an alley where he knew that a certain acquaintance would be, hopefully with a stash of pills on him. 

"Hey. Hey, you!" 

Turning around, he saw two young men heading towards him. Putting his hand in his pocket, he fingered the butterfly knife that was hidden in it. "What do you want?"

"We saw you. In the club bathroom. With that other man." The taller and more built one of them said, drawing closer. 

"And what's your point?"

"We _heard you as well. You fag." Without warning, the man punched him in the stomach, winding him badly as he hit the ground. "You kind of people are disgusting!" Punch. Kick. The other man joined in. "yeah! Who did you think you were fooling? Everyone could hear you!" Kick. "Everyone!" Kick. Knowing that they would not be satisfied till they had broken all off his ribs, he curled into a small ball and let them kick him._

"What's going on here?" a new voice asked. "What… Stop That!!! You'll kill him!"

"If you know what is good for you, then you'll pretend you didn't see this." One of the assailants said. "Now get out of here." Turning back to the body on the ground, he gave it another swift kick. 

"No! You've got to stop!"

"Oh yeah?! Make me!"

"_Petrificus totalus!"___

Suddenly, the two men that had been beating him up fell to the ground, arms and legs straight, as if bound. Their eyes still moved though, speaking of a wider panic at being rendered immobile so easily. Looking at the two men, he felt a rush of exultation go through him, wanting to leap up and laugh at them, kick _them, make __them bleed. _

Moving slightly though, he was sure that he wouldn't be moving for a while. He groaned as he tried to sit up. _Stop being so weak!_ Breathing heavily, he tried to get to his feet. 

"You shouldn't move! You're hurt!" the stranger said, rushing over to him. _Perhaps he is right. I'm feeling a little dizzy…. The world started to spin before him as a pair of strong hands grabbed him. Turning around, he saw himself gazing into a pair of bright emerald green eyes before he blacked out. _

"…_DRACO???" _

AN; So, what do you think? Please read and review? Please????? Even a flame would make my day…. [and I am SO serious here, folks…]


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks to everyone who reviewed! You made me so happppeeeeeee!!!!!!!! So. On with the fic. Feel free to offer any suggestions that you might have, cause I might just work them in… ^^   

Harry James Potter was having a bad day. Not content on letting him lie around aimlessly in his apartment, his two best friends had _insisted that he accompany them out for dinner and then to a club afterwards. There had been no room for argument as Hermione dragged him from his couch and told him to "Be ready in five minutes, or I swear I will come in and dress you myself!" Not wanting to involve himself in an argument that he could have easily avoided, he had agreed. Hermione had not changed much since their Hogwarts days, and she still had the uncanny ability to make him feel totally and utterly ashamed of himself whenever a situation required it. _

            Ron, on the other hand, was much more relaxed around the young woman. Having finally revealed his feelings towards the young witch after the fall of Voldemort, they had become a steadfast couple, and Ron knew when to not get in Hermione's way. 

            So, it was, with only a minimum of protest from Harry, that they all found themselves heading off to downtown London in order to have some dinner and then meet up with some of their old school friends at a club. And, inevitably, it was at dinner when Hermione and Ron decided to announce their 'big news'. 

            "Well, Harry, you know me and Herm have been going out for a while now…"

            "Of course." _And it would have been longer if you two had realised you feelings earlier than you did._

            "And you know that we love each other very much…."

            "Yes. Ron, are you trying to tell me something?"

            "What Ron is trying to say," interrupted Hermione, "is that we're engaged! Isn't it great Harry?!"

            "Congratulations!" Harry said, holding up his glass in a toast. 

            Though Harry did not begrudge Hermione and Ron their happiness, it only reminded him that he had no-one of his own. After the incident with Cho, he could hardly look at another girl in the same way again. Cho was probably the only girl that he genuinely liked in that way, and the memory of Cedric had ruined that a long time ago. The memory of Cedric also brought back several… feelings. It's not that Harry had decided that he was strictly gay, but he was definitely bi. _Definitely._

            Finishing dinner rather late, they decided to head to the club where they were going to meet their friends. Dean and Seamus had confirmed they would be coming, as well as Lavender and Parvati, and Neville had taken time out of his successful medicinal plant business to come. Obviously, they had been coerced into it by Hermione to make the night just _that much more memorable. Heading towards the club, Harry was slightly amused by the name that he saw, highlighted in large letters above the entrance. ___

_            The Viper's Nest._

            Going inside, he decided that he would try to enjoy the night ahead of him, even if it meant staying sober in order to make sure that the rest of his friends made it home safely. Gryffindors were notorious for being brave, but that also meant that when they were drunk they could also do some of the most "brave" and portentously dangerous stunts that they could think of. Stepping into the club, they found most of their friends already sitting around a table near the back of the club. Dean and Seamus were already half drunk, while Parvarti and Lavender were sipping on cocktails. 

Deciding that he would self-designate himself as chaperone for the night, Harry watched as his friends got more and more drunk. They were all drinking and laughing and having a good time as they celebrated the engagement of two of their closest friends. Ron and Hermione were in especially good spirits, at one time getting up to wildly gyrate to a popular dance song in the middle of the dance floor, to everyone's amusement and Harry's rather distracted horror. 

His friends were so drunk that once when he came back from the bar, Dean claimed that he had seen Draco Malfoy sitting at the bar drinking whisky. This jolted Harrry for a moment though, as he had not really thought about his one-time-nemesis since the end of the war; no-one had heard of him since then, and it had already been four years. No-one decided to take Dean seriously though, after he staggered back to their table a few minutes later, saying how he was POSITIVE that he saw the tiger motif on the wall behind them wink at him. 

"… I swear…. that…that tiger. On the wall be'ind you…. It winked at me…."

"Dean, perhaps you should stop drinking…" 

"What! Maybe you should _start _drinkin, 'arry! I ain't seen you have anything yet! Then you can come and join me and the tiger…."

It was after the "gyrating couple" (raunchy cat calls and howling from Dean, Neville and Seamus), and "winking tiger" incident that Harry decided that it was time that his friends should be getting home. Managing to drag them all outside on the pretence that they were going to go to another club, he managed to bundle them all into a cab, making sure each of them got home safely, and leaving the cabbie enough money to be compensated with having to drive the rowdy bunch home. Taking in a deep breath as he watched the cab drive off, he decided that he could do with some fresh air, and decided that walking home wouldn't be such a bad idea. 

_Yes. Walking home would give me some time to clear my thoughts._ Bundling his hands into his coat pockets, he turned to walk down the familiar night streets. Now that Hermione and Ron were finally getting married, he felt like even more of a third wheel. There was no doubt that he would be welcomed with open arms to their home, but it would be _their home, not his. He couldn't help but the feel slightly depressed that he did not have a significant other in his life. He had learnt a long time ago that it was more difficult for others to take him at face value; they always saw the scar, not the person behind it. To most of the wizarding world, he was the boy-who-lived, or the boy-who-defeated-Voldemort, not Harry, never just Harry.  _

Turning down a dark alley, he was met with the sight of two men standing above a huddled form on the ground. Walking closer, he made out the battered form of a blonde man, probably the same age as himself, curled around himself, obviously trying to protect his ribs. 

"What's going on here?" he asked. One of the men turned around as the other continued to kick the prostrate figure. "Stop that! You'll kill him!"

  "If you know what's good for you, then you'll pretend you didn't see this." He said, before turning around and landing a swift kick to the man's back. Indecision briefly flitted through is mind. _It would be easier to just leave them alone…. NO! I just can't leave him to be bashed to death!_   

"No! You've got to stop!"

"Oh yeah?! Make me!"

"…" _I need something that will disable them, but will leave hem with a minimum of damage… "__Pertificus totalus!" The two thugs that had been beating the boy fell to the ground. Looking over, he saw the bashed man try to get up. He succeeded, but then immediately clutched at his chest, breath coming in heaving gasps. Moving over towards the injured man, he grasped him by the arms. Turning him around, he saw the flash of silver eyes before they rolled back and his eyelids closed. __I only know one person with eyes like that. "Draco?!"_

Looking at the beautiful boy lying in his arms, he decided that there was only one thing that he could possibly do at the moment. He would have to take him to his apartment to rest. 

O.K, I SO know you guys are like get on with it, but I felt that I had to throw in something like this. Don't worry, I will try to update regularly, since I am on my uni holidays, and the only thing I have to do nowadays is go to work. Even if I forget, I'll have my sister forcing me to write, so no need to worry. ^^*

  So please! Read and Review!!!!!

Oh, and btw, to the person who called me a (and I quote) "bastard", I am, *ahem*, most definitely a "bitch". You get my drift? 


	3. Chapter 3

            Normal disclaimers… HP is not mine, etc…..    Don't sue me, you'll get nothing.

            Sorry for taking so long to update!!

Harry stared at the boy lying in his arms. _Draco Malfoy_. What had he been doing here, in this part of the city, a back alley of London, being beaten by two miscreants? Where had he been for the last few years, ever since he had left Hogwarts? More questions flooded through Harry's mind, yet he knew that he would receive no answer in the foreseeable future. What mattered now was that Draco was hurt, and Harry needed to get him to his apartment. He had been in enough fights to know that the injuries received were not life-threatening. _What he needs now is some rest for a few days. Carefully, he lowered the young man to the ground, before casting the ever reliable charm, _wingardium___ leviosa on the unconscious man. Thankfully, his apartment was not far away, and was readily accessible from the back streets of the city. This in turn made certain that there would be minimal risk of being seen by any muggles that were wandering the streets this late at night. _

            Once again, Harry found himself staring at the man that was now levitating in front of him. Draco still was easily recognisable as the young man who had attended Hogwarts. His platinum hair was now free from gel, and fell gently in cool waves around his face. If he were standing, it would probably reach his shoulders in length. He had lost his youthful look, his cheeks were hollowed out into a semblance of mature angularity; the same look as his father Lucius had had. The black fans of his eyelashes swept softly over his high cheekbones. 

            What Harry also noticed though, were the dark circles that were hidden underneath the dark eyelashes, and the fact that although Draco had always seemed to be an angular person, he was looking _too _angular. Looking at his emaciated limbs, Harry could tell that Draco had, or was, suffering from malnutrition. And though Draco had always been pale, (almost like an albino, actually), he was even more pale now. Coupled with being beaten, Draco now had a deathly pallor which made all his newly forming bruises all the more obvious on his beautiful face.

            _Did I just think of Malfoy as beautiful?_

            Harry shook his head in frustration. Looking up at a door, he vaguely realised that he had nearly walked past his apartment while staring at Draco. Opening up the door, he steered Draco into the old and rickety goods lift that was an original of the warehouse apartment. The previous owner had converted the old warehouse into a studio apartment that they had used as a getaway for private thought and inspiration, and therefore Harry literally had the whole building to himself. Stepping out of the lift as it reached the top floor, he steered Draco towards his bed. Though he had a couch, he knew that it would not be very comfortable for anyone to wake up on, let alone an injured person, and he had not finished fitting out the guest room yet. 

            He carefully settled Draco onto his king sized bed, propping his head up with a pillow. Ending the charm, Harry proceeded to the foot of the bed, where he started to remove Draco's shoes. _I suppose that I'll have to take off his shirt as well._ He set down the shoes, and pushed them under the bed. Moving back up to the top of the bed, he started to undo the buttons of Draco's shirt. Pulling it open, Harry found himself admiring the hard lines of Draco's chest. _Stop it! It's Draco Malfoy for goodness sakes! You only hated him for seven years of your life, and he made your life hell for that long as well!  Pulling the sleeves off of his arms, Harry noticed that Draco had bruises at his elbow joint. __Are these from drugs..? Having finally gotten his shirt off, Harry threw it into his laundry basket. He pulled a sheet over the still unconscious man, and moved over to his couch in order to get some rest and think things through._

            _So I got dragged out of bed, found out my two best friends are now engaged, went to a night club and saw some **very_ disturbing sights, found an unconscious Draco Malfoy in a back street and brought him back home, and he is now lying half naked in my bed. _**_

_            Fantastic._

            Briefly, his thoughts flickered to the two men that he had left lying immobilised in the middle of the alleyway where he had found Draco. They should have been able to move now, and there was no reason to worry that they might go alerting authorities that they had been made immobile by magic by a young man with a wand. And even if they did, the chances that anyone would believe them was minimal; they had probably been drinking before anyway. Glancing over at the bed, he looked to see if Draco was still sleeping. _When was the last time that I saw him?_

********

            It had been during their seventh year at Hogwarts. It had become increasingly evident in those last few months that the final meeting of the boy-who-lived and you-know-who was fast approaching. After a particularly involved and tumultuous meeting of The Order, harry had decided that he would like some time to himself. Donning his invisibility cloak, he had wandered aimlessly around the upper hallways of the school before finding himself ascending the stair case of the astronomy tower. Once he had reached the top, however, he had realised that he was not alone on the tower that night. Sitting against the stone wall of the tower was Draco Malfoy, casually smoking a cigarette. Thinking that he wanted to avoid a confrontation, Harry turned to go back down the stairs. 

"I know you're there. I could hear you coming up the stairs." Draco said, exhaling some smoke. "You can't spend all your time running away. It just won't work one day." Harry turned around. Draco was staring at exactly where he was standing. Deciding that he would not give Draco the satisfaction of knowing that he had avoided him on purpose, he took off his cloak and walked over to him, sitting down next to him, back leaning against the wall. Draco silently offered him a cigarette and he took it. Smoking was a past time that he had taken up ever since the death of Sirius back in fifth year. 

Both of them sat in silence, staring up at the sky, studying the constellations, lost in their own thoughts. They sat there for what seemed like hours, smoking cigarette after cigarette, never saying a word. It was odd that Harry was able to relax so much sitting next to the boy that he had fought with so much over the years. It was not an uncomfortable silence; it was just silence. Finally, Draco had turned to look at him.

"You know he's going to try and kill you soon."

"He's been trying for a while now. He's yet to succeed." Harry replied, taking another puff of his cigarette.

"No. I mean really soon. My father is going to pull me out of school right before he attacks you…"

"What? That would almost be a warning sign, wouldn't it? I'm not afraid. Let him come."

"Trying to be brave Potter? Always the noble Gryffindor…"

"And you're always the sneaky Slytherin, giving me a warning about your precious Dark Lord's attack."

"He is not my "Lord". I bow down to no-one." Draco replied, scoffing at the night sky.

"….So. Why are you telling me this?"

"I don't know. Forget I said anything at all." With that, Draco stood up and walked over to the top of the stairwell leading down to the rest of the school. 

A week later, Draco was pulled out of Hogwarts on the excuse that Lucius did not want his son to study in a school run by a senile old fool. A week after that, Hogwarts was attacked by Voldemort, but he was beaten for the final time by Harry who had been preparing for his coming, and took him by surprise. 

********

Looking back to the man in his bed, Harry wondered if Draco had meant to help him by telling him that piece of information. Deciding that he would ask him when he regained consciousness, Harry fell asleep sitting on his couch.  

A.N; Hey hey! So thanks to everyone who read and reviewed!!!! So, I would appreciate it if you would do it again….. hint-hint It might just make me able to type faster and become a better person and achieve world peace. SERIOUSLY. 

So, Hopefully, I will update a lot more, cause Christmas is nearly over, and I won't be rostered on to work as much, so I can spend time at home sitting in front of a computer in sweltering 40 degree heat with no air conditioning to make you guys happy. Aren't you glad?  ^^*

            


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer; Please do not sue! I have no money, that is why I go to work all the time…. Every character is owned by J.K "she-who-is-richer-than-the-queen" Rowling . . .

            And I am jealous of that fact….

_Pushing open the heavy double oak doors, he walked into the front foyer of what could only be described as a manor. The simplistic and seemingly minimalist parquetry on the floor belied the opulence and obvious cost of all the surroundings. A white marble staircase led up to the second floor, splitting in two halfway up. On both sides of him in the foyer, there were two doors. The one on the right led to the sitting room, which overlooked the meticulously manicured lawns and shrubbery of the garden. The one on the left led to the study._

_            Walking over to the dark wooden door of the study, he knocked three times, before stepping back to wait for admittance, like he had been taught to do since he was a young boy. After a few minutes, when he had received no answer, he knocked again. Once again, he received no answer. Grasping the door by its ornate dragon shaped handle, he pushed the door open and stepped inside._

_            The French doors that lined the outer wall of the study had all been blown open, the glass from the shattered windowpanes littering the shallow steps that led out to the garden, as if the glass had been blown out from an explosion from inside. The pale straw colored curtains had all been torn, and now fluttered forlornly in the spring breeze. The books that had previously been painstakingly ordered and neatly contained in the bookshelves lining the walls were now strewn around the room, as if they had been hurled about, pages flapping in the breeze, while others had been torn apart, the torn leafs of the pages blowing about the room, reforming in piles on the pristine cream colored carpet._

_            He walked over to the desk, which, surprisingly, was as neat as it always was - the mahogany box that contained important letters and parchment was still sitting untouched on the corner of the desk, a bottle of ink and a selection of various quills lying next to it. The lamp, curiously, was on, even though it was _midday___, so he reached over in order to turn it off. Walking around to the side of the desk, he noticed out of the corner of his eye a splash of platinum blonde hair, spread over the ground. Walking all the way around the table, he looked down.  _

_            The middle aged man was laid sprawled on the ground, wand still in his hand. He was quite obviously dead, his open, vacant eyes staring at the space underneath the table, his other hand stretched out towards something underneath. Taking a few more steps towards the body, he could see that there was another hand, a few inches away from the man's. Lying underneath the table, leaning against the inside cabinet of the desk, was a woman, a few years younger than the man, also with pale blonde hair, also deceased, but with a look of horror in her face._

_            Leaning down, he closed the man's eyes, before lying him on his back, and straightening him out, folding his hands on his chest. He did the same for the woman, laying the blonde couple side by side.  _

_            The odd thing about it all, that many would mention later, was that they had died without shedding a single drop of blood; even in a case such as this, it was rare to have sustained such minimal damage._

_            Having done what he could for the dead couple, he did the only thing that he knew. Getting up, he ran; ran through the study, out the dark wooden doors, through the marble foyer, past the double front doors that he had left open, out into the courtyard and down the driveway, not paying attention to the weeping willow trees that lined the driveway, and out through the wrought iron gates, his expensive dark green robes whispering behind him, his white blonde hair coming out of its usually immaculate styling. Only once he was outside the gates of the estate did he allow himself to break down and cry, silent tears streaming down his cheeks, before straightening up and mentally berating himself. _

_            Malfoys Do Not Cry. _

-----------------

            Draco started awake. He was tired, sore, and could hardly focus on anything that was in front of him, but he also felt warm and safe which, in itself, was quite peculiar, as he had no idea of where exactly he was, and in just _whose bed he had spent the night. He was however, still dressed, and that seemed to amount to something._

            Settling back into the pillows, he closed his eyes and thought about the dream that he had just had, the same dream that he had been having as far back as he could remember. Though nothing seemed to stick out in his mind from the dream, Draco was always filled with a sense of loss whenever he had it, and would have tears running down his cheeks when he woke up. 

            Opening his eyes, he turned his head to look at the room that he was in. It looked like it may have been a studio apartment, it was open, and he could basically see quite a bit of the rest of the apartment from where he was in bed. The apartment was neat, not fastidiously so, but neat enough. Books filled the bookshelves that lined the walls, and there were books lying on the side of an old faded leather couch that was situated in front of a small television set. The apartment felt lived in, a sense that Draco immediately warmed to, though he had yet to see the apartments owner. The sound of a key turning in a lock suddenly made him turn over and pretend to be asleep. 

"Harry? Are you here?" he heard a female voice ask. _Harry… that must be the name of the person who lives here.__ Draco thought, turning his head slightly and opening his eyes to see who had entered the apartment. A young woman with bushy brown hair stood in the doorway, a tall lean man with red hair leaning against her back, peering around the door. "Hey, is that him in the bed?" the young man asked, taking a few steps forward. Suddenly, he heard another door open. "Herm. Ron. What are you two doing here? I thought that you two would be too hung over to check on me for sure…."_

"Oh! Harry! No, we woke up this morning totally hung over, but Herm here knows that sobering charm, so, yeah!" The tall man said, giving Harry a large grin. "So, we came over to check on you, cause when we got home last night, Hermione here tried to give you a call to see if you had gotten home alright, but you didn't pick up. So we thought we'd come and check on you today." Finished, he put an arm around the woman's shoulders. "But then again, I see that you had a 'good' night last night as well?" he wiggles his eyebrows, giving a pointed glance at the bed.

"No! No! It's not what you think it is! I brought him home last night because I found him in an alleyway, and he was beng beaten up buy these two guys, and they were obviously drunk, and you didn't expect me to leave him lying in a back alley somewhere did you? So I brought him home and I was going to phone you today Hermione, to see if you could do something for him…."

Deciding that the time was right, Draco decided to make a move, and pretended that he had just woken up. Turning so his back was towards the friends, he sat up, regretting the move slightly as he felt the dull, painful protest of his ribs. Running his hand through his hair, he heard footsteps coming towards him, and someone sitting on the bed behind him. "Are you feeling better now?" a voice asked, and he instantly recognized it as the raven haired man who owned the apartment. 

"Yes, thank you." He turned around to face the boy that had addressed him. Once again, the very first thing that he noticed about the man beside him was the fact that he had the greenest eyes that he had ever seen. They weren't the faded green that many seemed to have, but a deep, intense emerald color. Though rare, these eyes seemed intensely familiar. 

Hearing a startled gasp, he looked to the two that were still standing near the doorway. Taking a few steps closer, the woman squinted at him. "Malfoy…?" she asked, in an incredulous voice. "Draco Malfoy?" _How does she know my name?_ he thought to himself. He did not remember ever having seen her, yet she was looking at him as though she had known of him for a better part of her life. "I thought you were dead." They were distracted however, by the red-heads sudden growl.

"You'll wish you were dead once I get my hands on you, ferret!!!!"

A.N ; I am just so sorry that this took so long! I was just at work, and going out, and working, and sleeping, and before I knew it, like, 3 weeks had gone by…. O.o 

But a GIANT "Thank-you" to everyone who reviewed! And hopefully, I will try to update a lot sooner next time! ^^

   __


	5. Chapter 5

 **T_T   
I'm SO sorry that it has taken me so long to update! But in between work and other "commitments" (aka uni enrolment, peoples birthdays, etc) I just haven't had the time to sit down in front of the computer and seriously type something out that is not a heap of drivel. **

**But the good news now! Uni should be starting in 8th March or so for me, so I will have more time to sit around and plan my fic. As bizarre as that sounds, that is like the only thing I find worthwhile doing while in lectures… Go Sydney Uni! Yeah!**

**So, I hope you enjoy!**

"You'll wish you were dead when I get my hands on you, ferret!"

Draco, startled that a man that he couldn't even remember, who was referring to him as a _ferret_ nonetheless, was charging towards him stood absolutely motionless as the redhead leapt towards him, pulling back his fist and punching him on his jaw, instantly flooring him. Lying from his vantage point on the floor, Draco saw the bushy haired  woman walk forward and slap the redhead on the face, as the other man came over and helped him back to his feet. Sitting back down onto the bed, he rubbed at his jaw, wincing as he opened and closed his mouth a few times, making sure that all his teeth were all still there. 

"Ron, you great big fool! You _had absolutely no reason_ to do that! How _could_ you?! What would people say if they saw you behaving in such a manner? What would your parents say?!" the bushy haired woman said, her voice steadily growing louder, as she lost her temper. "He's already been beaten up by a bunch of thugs, and now you HAD to go and make it worse! Look at that bruise! What if you had broken his jaw? If you don't learn to control yourself, Ronald Weasley, I shall hex you into next week!"

"Hermione is right you know, Ron. If you're going to be like that, then I am going to have to ask you to leave my house." Said the green eyed man, before turning back to run a worried glance over Draco. Scoffing, the redhead – Ron – walked over to the couch and sat down to watch them. 

"Don't worry Harry, I won't cause you anymore trouble. But he deserved it, after all that he put us through in school!"

"That's enough Ron." He – Harry – turned back to Draco. Turning away, he walked to another part of the apartment, and returned with a bag full of ice, which he handed over to Draco. Wordlessly, Draco took the bag from his hand and touched it gingerly to the side of his face. _I just know that I'll have the largest bruise on the side of my face now. It'll make a lovely accompaniment to all the other ones that I have all over my body…_

"Here. I'll try to help you with those bruises" said the woman – Hermione – digging into one of her pockets, trying to find something.

"They can wait." Draco said, removing the bag of ice from his face. "So. Ron." He pointed to the angry red haired man sitting on the sofa, receiving a sullen glare. He ignored the man and turned to the bushy haired woman. "Hermione..?" She nodded in reply, arching a finely shaped eyebrow at him before glancing worriedly at the black haired man that was still standing next to him. Turning to him at last, he looked into brilliant green eyes. "…and Harry." Glad that he had managed to pick up everyone's names from their conversation, Draco laidback down on the bed and placed the bag of ice back onto his aching face. 

"Who _are_ you all? And why do you all act as if you know me?"

            The other three occupants of the apartment all looked at each other, sharing worried and confused glances. Harry motioned towards the far end of the living room, and Hermione and Ron, taking the hint, moved away from Draco. 

"Do you really think that he doesn't remember us at all?" asked Harry, a worried expression in his face. "He didn't seem to recognise me last night, when I rescued him from being beaten."

"Well, he certainly does not seem to be acting like the old Malfoy that we knew at Hogwarts." Added Hermione. 

"Pfft. I bet you that he is just faking it, the smarmy git. For all we know, he could just be plotting to take over the world like you-know-who was, or maybe just seeking revenge!"

"OR perhaps, Ronald, YOU hit him just a tad too hard on the head, and he has lost his memory. It could be all your fault for all we know." said Hermione, glaring at Ron. "Well, anyway that you look at it, he doesn't remember us, and frankly, to me, it seems like a good arrangement at the moment. We all remember what a slimy git he was back in school." The other two nodded in agreement with her; if Hermione could put aside being called a mudblood, then they could put aside any petty schoolyard skirmishes as well. They all walked over back to the bed. 

"Well, is your crisis meeting over, then?" Draco asked from the bed, a wry smile on his face. Harry and the others glanced over at each other. 

"Glad to see that you haven't lost the sarcasm over the years…" Harry said, as Hermione and Ron went to sit on the couch. "Are you feeling better now?" Hesitantly, he sat down on the bed next to Draco, who shifted over slightly to give him some more room. 

"Look, I appreciate that you have done this for me; taking me in and treating me, even though I can see that at least one of your friends was against it." he looked over at Ron before continuing. "But really, I'm fine, I'll go. You don't have to look after me."

            Looking slightly at a loss of words, Harry nodded at what Draco was saying. If someone had told him yesterday that he would have met and rescued Draco Malfoy of all people by today, and have him be civil while lying in his bed, he would have told then that they were insane, and told them to seek medical treatment at St. Mungos, since they were obviously in dire need of help. But now, here he was, with a Malfoy lying next to him peacefully. Not insulting him. Not calling names. Not plotting to get him into trouble. Not trying to insult his best friends in the world. Not trying to hex him into tomorrow. Asleep. 

Looking for all the world like an angel fallen out of heaven. 

But then again, it was a long way to fall.

**Ok. I know that it is terribly short. And not really….. great… Actually, it's probably really anticlimactic now that I think of it…. -_-***

**Aïeeeeee****!!! Don't worry, the next chappie will be better, and hopefully longer, and hopefully much more plot fulfilling. Don't worry, there IS a vague semblance of one in my fat head somewhere! **

**            So now that you have read it, you know what to do. I do believe the button is off to the left hand side of the bottom of the screen. heee heee heee Flamers and Plot bunnies welcome!**  ****


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N**; I am SO sorry this took so long… after uni, and work, this is the first time that I have had the chance to do anything with this!! It's so disheartening to think that I let this lapse for such a long period… and I think this chap could be a lot better as well! Flame me and I'll probably try to write faster to keep you happy… lol

Harry lay on his bed, thinking about nothing. His mind was like a clear slate; he had learnt how to compartmentalise when he had been fighting Voldemort, and still would find it necessary sometimes. Back then, it had been a very real necessity along with occulemency, having the need to sit back at night and to store away the feelings and thoughts of what had happened during the day – who he had watched die, who he had killed, intentionally or not, seeing _his_ face in front of him, leering at him with those bizarrely reptilian features as he managed each of his little victories.

It was not like he had not had the same experiences as his peers, it was the fact that in between all those normal days were the small trials that had, in the end, forced him to either become a murderer or the murdered. Normal school days at Hogwarts, the lessons that he learnt and events that happened in his school days would still come back to him sometimes, everything that was so normal and right for a teenager during the day fading into the background when evening came, with meeting with the order and the additional lessons of occlemency with Snape disguised as remedial potions, which he would then be taunted about by certain students.

_Especially that one certain student._

Harry had come back to his apartment earlier that day to find Draco gone; in his place was a short note, written in a beautiful flowing script:

_Thankyou for the help, but I need to go. Besides, I don't think that red-headed friend of yours likes me very much. _

And that had been it. After spending a few days in his apartment, recovering from his injuries, the enigma that was Draco Malfoy had gone, only leaving behind a note that was definitely not enough for Harry. Definitely not enough at all. Making up his mind, he decided to go and pay a visit to an old friend.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Having apparated into Hogsmeade, Harry put his wand away inside his jacket, and set off up the long road up to Hogwarts castle, the place that he had called home for seven years, and where some of his fondest memories had taken place. Reaching the castle gates, he could see some students moving around near the front entrance, probably going to their care of magical creature's lessons at Hagrid's. Harry made a note to make sure that he went and visited Hagrid before he left the castle. Walking up towards the entrance, he saw a dark robed figure step out onto the front steps of the school. Getting closer, he recognised the long white beard of Professor Dumbledore.

After the war with Voldemort had been fought, the wizarding world had fallen back to the leadership of who they believed would have been the perfect wizard for the job. But Albus Dumbledore had refused to act in the position of Head of the Ministry of Magic, and had instead preferred to become an advisor, gently pushing at his comrades at the ministry into appointing Arthur Weasley as the new minister. After offering to help as second in command, Dumbledore had carefully and slowly distanced himself from the hectic political life and retreated back to Hogwarts.

As usual, once Harry had reached the old man, he had that maddening twinkle in his eye yet again.

"Why hello, Harry. How have you been?" asked the old man, offering out a bag of lemon drops. Harry politely shook his head, a small smile on his face.

"Well thankyou professor. And you?"

"Well. Shall we go to my office then? I do believe you came here to talk about something to me, and I think that the front steps of the school is hardly the place to be doing it, don't you?"

Nodding to the headmaster, they headed up the stairs that would take them to the headmaster's office. Reaching the ornate office, Harry took a look around. Nothing much had changed since the days when he had been a student at the school. Fawkes was still sitting on his perch to one side of the large desk that Dumbledore had taken a seat behind. Walking over to the bird, he was met by a short trill of Phoenix song, while the bird cocked its head to one side, looking at the young man standing before him. Harry reached out and stroked the side of his neck, feeling the soft plumage of the bird. Turning around, he took a seat in front of the headmaster, arranging himself until he was comfortable before speaking.

"Well sir, the reason I came to see you is… well, I wanted to find what you would be able to tell me about Draco Malfoy." Looking down, Harry studied his folded hands, not daring to look in the headmasters eyes, just in case the old man saw his blush.

"Hmmm. Perhaps I would not be the best person to tell you about Mr. Malfoy…" the headmaster replied, turning around to his fireplace that was behind him. Throwing in a pinch of floo powder, Harry heard him mumbling quietly to someone in the fireplace before straightening up and looking at Harry once again. He smiled reassuringly, before sitting down in his chair once again. After a few minutes of small talk, Harry heard a knock at the door. Hearing the headmaster bid the new person to enter, he turned around, and to his surprise, was face to face with Professor Snape, who faltered sightly when he saw Harry.

"Headmaster. You wished to speak to me about something important?" he asked, ignoring the presence of the dark haired young man. Although they had been basically on the same side in the war against Voldemort, there was still a coldness that the potions master exuded when he was in the same room as him, which Harry had assumed was a throwback to the days when his own father was a tormentor of the Slytherin.

"Yes. Well, Mr Potter here has just told me a bit of an interesting story, and I thought that you would, perhaps, be willing to share your knowledge and opinion on the matter?" Dumbledore looked over to Snape, his trademark 'I know more than I am actually letting on' twinkle in his eye. "I am afraid that there a few things that I would like cleared up about young Mr Malfoy, and some other things that I think that Harry here would like to hear." At the mention of Draco Malfoy, the potions professor stiffened, his posture straightening more than what Harry thought was physically possible. Turning around, he faced Harry squarely for the first time since he had entered the headmaster's office.

"And, pray tell, _why_ would the young Mr Potter want to know about my godson? Surely he has _better_ things to do? After all, I'm sure being the saviour of the wizarding world still holds its own important little duties? Pulling kittens out of trees? Hugging a baby at the opening of the new wing at St. Mungos perhaps?"

"Now, now, Severus…." Dumbledore chided. Harry flushed a deep shade of red, firstly out of anger, then out of embarrassment. After all, he _had_ been invited as guest of honour at the opening of the "Potter memorial wing" of St. Mungos, and he had never expected the over-enthusiastic witch to shove a baby into his arms, and he _certainly_ had not meant for the moment to be caught by dozens of photographers there for the opening ceremony of the wing, and the eventual spreading of the picture, through every magazine and newspaper in the wizarding world like some kind of proverbial plague was definitely unseen, and much to Harry's embarrassment, he would still find that same picture in magazines or newspapers where his name was mentioned.

"Can you just tell me about Draco?" he asked, not wishing to have to listen to the potions professor go on about him.

"Yes, Severus, please tell Harry about Mr Malfoy. I fear that there is much that he does not know about his peer." Dumbledore leaned back into his wing backed chair, sipping on a cup of tea while raising his eyebrow at Snape. Scowling slightly, Snape cleared his throat and began his story.

"As you well know, Mr Potter, Draco's father, Lucius was well known within death eater circles; he was, as some would like to put it, Voldemort's "right hand man" and revelled in the position. I myself do not know how he was able to ingratiate himself into the Dark Lord's inner circle, but as time went on, he came to prove himself as a loyal follower of the madman. However, when Voldemort fell that night at your house, Lucius was able to, through his many powerful connections, extricate himself from any association with the Death Eaters and their ranks. Of course, by then, Draco had already been born, and from a young age was exposed to the teaching of the followers of Voldemort – many of his 'aunts' and 'uncles' were death eaters themselves, and through them, Draco was introduced to the world of what people would call the dark magics. Draco would have known more about dark curses by the time he was seven than you did after being educated about them for a year here at Hogwarts.

"But as Draco grew up, he was exposed to a different kind of world, namely here at Hogwarts. I do not know if you realise this, but your refusal of his friendship when you and he first met was merely a catalyst for what he was to become during your final battle with Voldemort. Draco's downfall, I might imagine, was the fact that he was quite regularly given his own way throughout his early life, and when it came to crux of the matter, Draco much preferred his own freedom than the alternative of being expected to marry a pureblood witch of a respectable family and to produce an heir all in the name of following a madman that had previously been defeated by a baby. His father in particular was becoming tired of the mad demands that were being pressed on him, especially since his own position as Voldemort's right hand had been usurped by that snivelling rat Peter Pettigrew.

"Using my help as an undercover spy for the Order, we were able to procure a position for the senior Malfoy as a spy, and as a matter of consequence, Draco was also used in order to secure information that was quite beneficial for the Order, and also, for _you_." Here, Severus paused, looking straight at Harry, gauging the brunette's reaction so far to the story that he was telling. Satisfied after seeing Harry's shocked face and the troubled and disbelieving expression in his eyes, he continued on with his tale.

"As a member of Voldemort's inner circle, Lucius was able to gather much more in-depth information than I or other members of the order were, but he was also at an extremely higher level of risk than the other spies were. The very last bit of information that he sent to us was the time and date that he had set for his attack on Hogwarts and his intentions for using the dementors in order to fight his way onto the warded grounds of Hogwarts, and to ultimately kill both the boy that had taken away his power and the man that he feared the most.

"But as you know, the Order was not the only side with spies watching their enemies every turn. It somehow became known that Lucius was somehow connected to a leak of information to the Order, and Voldemort, in his fury, personally saw fit to guarantee the silence of both Lucius and Narcissa at Malfoy manor the day that you defeated him, here at Hogwarts. Draco, the only heir of the entire Malfoy fortune and estates, as we know, went inexplicably missing after the death of both his parents, and still hasn't been located to this day." Snape trailed off, grimacing at the thought that his godson had been missing for so long, and that he, as his only family, had no idea whether or not he was safe, or even alive. Finally, the silence was broken by Harry

"Well sir, I know that you'll be glad to hear that I think I know where Draco Malfoy is…"

Well, you know what I want now…. It involves a button in the left hand corner of the screen….

You know you want to…..


	7. Chapter 7

"Well. That's settled then." With those last four parting words, Snape stood up and left the headmasters office. Harry just sat, mouth slightly open, staring at the mass of billowing black robes as they passed him. Turning around, he looked at back to Dumbledore, about to ask the old man a question, but he was interrupted before he could even ask it.

"I agree with Professor Snape, Harry. We need to know what has happened to Mr. Malfoy, and who better to find him than the person who saw him last? As an old classmate of yours, I am sure that you would like to know what he has been doing these past few years since you defeated Voldemort?" smiling at Harry, he glanced at his pocket watch. Before Harry could say anything, Dumbledore continued. "My goodness! Look at the time! I had promised to meet Madame Pomphrey to discuss some changes over tea, and then had to discuss some business with Professor Binns! I'm sure you understand how busy it can be, being Headmaster and all. You can use the floo here in my office if you like; the floo powder is just there on the mantle piece. Well, Good Luck Draco hunting!" and with a pop, Harry was left alone in the headmasters office, staring at Fawkes, who was staring right back at him.

Feeling somewhat confused, Harry flooed to the Leaky Cauldron and decided to take a walk home. It wasn't as if he was trying to avoid or shirk this new "responsibility" – he was, after all, one of the only three people that had seen Malfoy since his mysterious disappearance during their school days. Thinking about it some more just gave him a headache. No, he didn't really need to think about this matter in order to justify it; he had already made up his mind about the topic a while ago, when Malfoy was at his home, but he _did_ need to hear it through. And there was only one person who could possibly help him with that problem. Making sure that the coast was clear of any suspiciously watching muggles, Harry took out his wand and hailed the Knight Bus.

* * *

Looking around the alleyway, Draco had finally spotted the man that he was looking for. Bryan was a tall, well built kind of guy, who was always immaculately dressed in designer clothing, and who was also always dependable for having a few of the more "recreational" drugs on hand. If you so happened to want them. And Draco most certainly wanted some. Spotting Draco heading towards him, he started to walk over, grin on his face. Draco grimaced sightly. Bryan was always enthusiastic when it came to "alternative" payments from Draco.

* * *

"Harry! What are you doing here!?" Hermione squealed as she opened her front door. "If I had known you were coming…" here, Hermione tried desperately to dust some flour off of her hands, but only succeeded in transferring some to her top. Harry silently muffled his laughter; Hermione Granger, star of Gryffindor house when it came to academics, able to list every type of fern by both common and botanical name in Herbology, able to tell you the origins and use for every ingredient in Potions, the girl who scored highest in the school in Arithmancy in their NEWT's and who was just a general all-rounder at school, found, of all things, that she just didn't have the ability to bake a cake. If it was just simple a sponge cake or even packet cake mix, something would inevitably go wrong. And given that Ron was particularly fond of desserts, Hermione was always continually attempting to succeed in making the "perfect" cake.

A few minutes later, Harry was situated on Hermione's couch, listening to the brunette as she talked through her thoughts and theories on the matter of Harry being "enlisted" to find Draco. Harry was only half listening to her; she pointed out the obvious fact that Harry and Draco had been enemies throughout their schooling life, and that they had always been the ones that were involved in fights, while also stating that there _had_ been a shift in Draco's attitude when they had seen him when he had been recuperating at Harry's home. She also pointed out that although his attitude had undergone a drastic change, he could have easily been feigning his condition, and that he was just pretending to not know who they were. However, she did not think that that was likely, as his confusion had seemingly been genuine, and that he probably wouldn't have been able to resist the urge to insult Ron and Harry for all he was worth, even if Harry just had saved his life.

Hermione, however, was also very curious as to the reason why Draco had been so drastically changed, and wanted to find out the cause behind their old classmates strange behaviour. As Harry thought about this, he really began to wonder about what Malfoy had been through since their Hogwarts days. Harry had always assumed that Draco would become like the other purebloods that had attended Hogwarts; spending their time travelling the world and visiting exotic places to "sow their wild seeds" before returning home to learn in the running of their own particular family businesses. After all, many of the Slytherin purebloods came from wealthy and prestigious families, and they all had their own businesses and investments to look after; many of the families had intermarried in order to protect family fortunes as well as look after the interests of the old family bloodlines. Some had already been married off to each other; a few from Hogwarts had been matched together by their families, such as Pansy Parkinson and Blaise Zabini – though it had always been assumed that the Parkinson and Malfoy families had had an arrangement between them regarding their children. Tuning out his thoughts, however, Harry was just in time to hear Hermione proclaim that she would help Harry with the search for Malfoy herself, and that Harry would not have to bear the burden of looking for him all by himself, and that they would start their search that very night. Once again without much of a choice, since Hermione had already made up her mind, Harry agreed.

Harry and Hermione stepped into the night club and headed towards the bar. Since the Viper's Nest was where they had been on the night that Harry had first found Draco, they had decided that it was a logical place to start their search. Of course, it had been Hermione who had suggested they begin their search there. After all, she seemed to be the only one that had remembered someone mentioning that hey had seen someone who looked very similar to Malfoy in the club on the night they had been there. Sitting down on two empty bar stools, Hermione ordered a vodka sunrise while Harry ordered a Guinness. Both sat back with their drinks and searched the crowd for any platinum blondes that were in the club.

As Harry scanned the crowd, he thought back as to how and why Hermione had become involved. Even though Malfoy had been a constant source of aggrievement to the smart Gryffindor from the very first time that they had met, Harry had very firmly insisted that she be allowed to accompany Harry on his "assignment" to find him. Harry had at first disagreed, stating that both Dumbledore and Snape had asked him and him alone to find Malfoy, but Hermione had been quick to point out that she had also been there to see Malfoy when he was staying at Harry's, and she could help him search for him. They had argued for a few minutes before Harry had given up after a rather loud exclamation of "I was able to help you find Voldemort, and I can sure as hell help you find Malfoy so stop arguing with me for god's sake!!" They had, however, agreed to keep what they were doing hidden from Ron for the time being, as Ron had a tendency to overreact when it came to discussing Malfoy.

Harry appreciated the fact that Hermione was much more willing to think the situation through methodically, and her burning curiosity to find out what had happened to the spoilt Slytherin brat that she had known during her Hogwarts days far outweighed any kind of petty hate that she may still have harboured for the man. It had, after all, been years since she had seen the man, let alone been insulted by him, and such childish antics should belong in the past, unforgivable as they may have seemed in the past.

Though Hermione had never mentioned it to Harry, she did have a nagging sense of guilt over how she may have been able to prevent his current situation, or at least have been able to help prevent the tragedy that had befallen his parents, the only family that he had had. Hermione had never before mentioned to either Ron or Harry that she had know about the Malfoy family's involvement in the fight against Voldemort. She had accidentally overheard Lucius Malfoy and Professor Snape quietly conversing in one of the back parlours of number twelve Grimmuald Place just before there was to be a meeting of the Order.

Harry, Hermione and Ron had all suspected that there was someone other than Severus Snape spying for them in the Death Eater ranks, but if there had been, it had been kept a very closely guarded secret by the highest members of the order. All that had been deduced about the spy was that he was a member of Voldemort's inner circle; and therefore in an extremely volatile position if they were ever to be caught. Hermione had not been close enough to actually hear the details of what Snape and Malfoy senior were speaking about, but taking into account that there was a known Death Eater in the secret headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix, and that said Death Eater was talking to a known spy for the Order, it was rather simple for her to put two and two together and come up with four, uncovering the identity of the hidden spy.

The hardest thing for Hermione to do after she had heard of the deaths of Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy and the presumed death of their only child, Draco, (whose body was never found, and with good reason, seeing as he was still alive), was to keep the secret that had cost the Malfoy's their lives. While there was still hope that Draco may have been kept alive somewhere, there was no mention of their involvement in Voldemort's downfall, just in case any Death Eaters that had not been caught tried to seek revenge on the Malfoy heir on behalf of their fallen leader.

Hermione, however, knew that the deaths of both Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy had been fully intentional, and was a punishment bestowed upon them from the madman they had served misguidedly in their youth. The chances that Draco had avoided the same fate had been slim, but the lack of a corpse was what had kept hope alive for the missing Malfoy heir. Unfortunately, it had also lead to speculation that Draco may have been brainwashed and was currently being programmed by a Death Eater sympathiser – wilder rumours suggested that Draco was being raised as the new Voldemort, and was just waiting until the time was right to unleash pure blood fanaticism on the world again.

However, after the defeat of Voldemort, rumours began circling that the Malfoys were included in the mass of dead Death Eaters that had not been identified that had died on the battlefield and were not identified due to the many maiming and disfiguring curses that had been used by both sides. Until only just recently, everyone had presumed that Draco Malfoy was still missing in action, presumed dead. After the last battle, he had never returned to the school as many other students had, nor had he transferred to any other school such as Beauxbatons or Durmstrang. There had been a few wild rumours that Draco was living a life of luxury on a deserted island that was heavily warded against unauthorised entry, or that he was living life as a recluse in the muggle world, mere kilometres away from Diagon Alley and the wizarding world.

Needing to break the silence that had occurred around them while they had been enjoying their drinks, Harry asked Hermione a question that had been plaguing him since h had left Hogwarts.

"What will I do when I finally find him, Herm?" he turned back to look at the brunette that was sitting next to him.

"What do you mean?" she asked, taking a sip of her drink. "We'll kidnap him, and take him back to Snape and Dumbledore, and find out what really is wrong with him, and then go home. Simple!" Harry just stared at her for a few moments, before getting up.

"You know, Herm, sometimes – just sometimes, mind you – you totally and utterly scare me…" taking a quick step backwards to avoid being playfully slapped, he turned around. "I think I'll go and see if he could be in the bathroom or something. Be right back!" With that, he hurried away before she could say anything.

**I'M SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG!!!!!!!!!!!**

**Ok. I have to say, I don't like this chapter at ALL!! **

**I've had a really bad time with this chapter… it just didn't appeal to me at all, and I really just didn't want to do it! I thought it would be a bit weird if I just "accidentally" missed a chapter though, because my story really wouldn't make much sense after that.**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed my story! I love you guys so much! Sorry it took so long! Runs away from people threatening to hex me**

**Why not tell me just how much this chapter sucks? Trust me, I'll be waiting and I won't be surprised. Trust me.**

**Come on, you know you want to…**

****


	8. Chapter 8

_Usual disclaimers apply_

Of all the pills that Draco had ever tried, he liked the one that Bryan had just given him the best. It was small, easy to swallow, and had given him a sense of euphoria that had _far_ surpassed the gnawing pain of hunger that he had had before taking it. That in itself was probably part of the reason why the tablet had worked so quickly and effectively. Draco was on a high and loving it.

Somewhere in between the dance floor and the bathroom he had managed to lose his kind benefactor; Bryan had been distracted by a nubile young boy that had caught his attention while dancing, and his focus had been shifted somewhat. They had been dancing for a bit at the Viper's Nest earlier in the night, but had moved on from there when one of Bryan's friends had been thrown out for hassling the bar staff. They were now at a bar a few streets over that Draco did not know the name of, but the music was good, the drinks were cheap, and the crowd were friendly enough for a bunch of drunken dancing people.

Walking into the bathroom, he was able to press his way through the crowd of people who had come in to participate in the "other" activities that a club bathroom had to offer, as well as the people who were just there to use the facilities on hand. Walking over to the sinks, Draco turned the water on and started to splash some on his face, humming along to the song that he could hear playing outside, swaying along with the beat of the music. Looking up into the mirror, he just caught a glimpse of a certain dark haired stranger walking into one of the stalls. Deciding that it was his chance to pay off a good deed, he walked after them quickly and pushed the man into the stall, turning around and sliding the lock into place.

One of the things that Harry had not counted on, when he had come out on his little mission was the fact that with each bar, pub and club that he had been to in the course of the night, in addition to not finding Malfoy, he was also becoming increasingly drunk. It was difficult to not have one, especially when everyone else in the place was drinking, and what else was there to do in places like these except for dance? Besides Harry was a very self-conscious dancer, and NOT holding a drink in a club if you weren't dancing just seemed wrong. Having had quite a few drinks in the last few hours, Harry decided that he would go to the bathroom to try and freshen himself up. Hermione had already decided to go home, and Harry had called a taxi for her and seen her off a few minutes before. He had already decided that this would be the last club that he would be visiting, and that if Draco wasn't here, then they would try again tomorrow.

Staggering into the club's crowded bathroom, Harry took a cursory glance at all the people that were in there; there were a few couples kissing and groping each other, while some people were just standing around talking in groups. Walking past them all, Harry spotted an empty stall at the far end and walked in. All of a sudden, he felt someone shove him from behind, and heard them lock the door behind him. Cautiously, Harry turned around, and came face to face with the very person he had been looking for all night.

"Hello stranger." Draco said, smirking. Before Harry had a chance to reply, he was roughly pushed up against the brick wall, and found himself being rather thoroughly kissed. Draco had moved one hand halfway up Harry's shirt, while the other hand was resting on the waistband of his pants, with the full length of his body pushed up against him. Turning his head to the side, Harry took in a much needed gasp of air. _O.K. Definitely not what I thought would happen when I met him again…_

"Draco, what are you.." once again, there was a mouth clamped against his, only this time his mouth had been open in mid sentence, and he felt Draco's warm tongue work it's way into his mouth. Standing absolutely still, Harry closed his eyes and savoured the taste of Draco as he playfully swiped his tongue against his own. Not able to help himself, he let out a small moan and tightened one arm around Draco's waist. He pressed back into Draco, savouring the taste; he tasted slightly of cranberry juice – probably from a drink he had earlier during the night. Finally pulling away after what felt like hours, Harry opened his eyes and found himself staring into glassy storm-grey eyes. "I thought you might like that." Draco said, still holding onto Harry. "Thought I might thank you properly for what you did for me."

"And is this how you normally thank people?" Harry asked, letting go of Draco's waist and relaxing against the hard brick wall. He had often imagined what it would be like to kiss the blonde, and the reality of the situation had far surpassed anything his imagination had ever conjured up. Draco leaned closer to Harry, until his mouth was right next to Harry's ear, and Harry had to strain in order to hear what Draco was whispering to him. "Trust me, this is only the beginning of my thanks." With that, Draco leant down and kissed Harry's ear, before trailing a line of kisses back to Harry's mouth. Pausing, he took a small pill out of his pocket and placed it on his tongue. Looking back to Harry, he leant forwards and captured his lips into a kiss once again, tightening the hold on the waistband of his pants. Parting his lips, he nibbled on Harry's lower lip, thrusting his tongue inside the other man's mouth when he opened his mouth and gave him entrance. Still kissing, he managed to transfer the small pill from his own mouth to Harry's. Breaking the kiss, he trailed another line of kisses down the jaw line and the neck of the other man, causing the brunette to swallow instinctively.

"What did you just give me?" Harry asked Draco, looking back down to those glassy eyes. It finally dawned on him that Draco was quite possibly high, and that he had just been given the same thing that Draco was currently on. Harry started to breathe a little faster as he thought of what he may have just ingested.

"Don't worry, love." Draco just said. "It's beautiful…you'll find out soon…" Not knowing what to do, Harry just leant back on the wall as Draco continued to kiss at his exposed flesh. There wasn't much for him to do but to ride it out, and he made a split second decision. He groaned a little as he felt Draco licking at the base of his neck, before pushing the blonde off of him. "You're coming with me, Draco." With that, he took hold of Draco's hand and pulled him out of the bathroom and to the exit of the club. Hailing a taxi, he climbed in with Draco beside him, and told the driver his address.

Relaxing a little now that he was out of the club, Harry thought about the situation that he was in. He had found Draco, or the other way around, if you really thought about it, and not only that, had kissed him in a public lavatory, where they could have been caught at ay time. Harry thanked the gods that were looking out for him that he had sent Hermione off home earlier. Not only that, Draco had slipped him a drug of some kind, presumably the same thing that he was currently on. Luckily, it did not look like the drug had any nasty side effects, apart for creating a sense of euphoria. Harry looked over at Draco, but he was happily staring out of the window, lost in his own little world. Harry supposed that Draco kissing him had all been part of the side effects of the drug that he had taken.

Arriving back at his apartment, Harry walked in, Draco right behind him. Harry felt much more at ease now that he was back home; he knew for a fact that Hermione would come and check up on him in the morning, so if anything was wrong, there would be someone who knew what to do on hand. Draco also seemed at ease as well; he had, after all, spent some days recuperating in the apartment from the injuries that he had received at the hands of the men in the alley, as well as from Ron. Flopping down on his bed, Harry closed his eyes, and tried to slow his heart rate down. He heard Draco sit down next to him on the bed, and a few seconds later, he heard the sound of Draco's shirt hitting the floor. Cracking one eye open, he turned and looked at the now shirtless blonde sitting next to him on the bed.

Draco moved quietly over the prone figure of Harry on the bed, and leaning down, he kissed Harry once again. Straddling Harry's hips, he leant down and began ghosting his lips over those of the man underneath him. Taking a hold of Harry's shirt, he tugged at it, until he was able to pull it over his head and off of Harry, throwing it to join his own on the floor. Looking down, he glided his hands over the bare chest that was in front of him. Shifting down a little, Draco was able to lean down and taste the newly exposed skin, massaging it gently before sliding back up and kissing Harry on the lips again.

Though Harry was quite sure that what he was doing at the moment was most certainly not what he should be doing with the blonde, especially since he would be having to report back to Snape, Harry couldn't help himself. Ever since seeing his old schoolmate being assaulted in an alleyway, Harry had found his thoughts continually led him back to Draco; what he might be doing, how he was, and wondering if he might be thinking about him, too.

Harry, by now, was feeling rather aroused, and not being able to stand it any longer, he flipped Draco onto his back, and lay with one of his legs in between Draco's own. Cautiously, he started to taste Draco as well, marvelling in the moon-like radiance of Draco's pale skin, and brushing against the fading ghosts of Draco's past bruises. Every time that Harry kissed Draco, he would arch up further into Harry, and Harry would, in turn, press down more firmly against Draco. Unable to help himself, Harry found himself on the brink of climax. Draco was holding him tightly to him and grinding himself upwards, while Harry was doing the opposite and grinding downwards.

Both of them came at the same time, each giving a hoarse cry of the other's name. Having exhausted themselves, both Harry and Draco fell asleep, arms still wrapped around each other.

_OK, Ok, I know…. You're thinking, "WTF happened to this stupid cow! Where has she been for all this time?" _

_I'm SORRY! PLEASE, FORGIVE ME! I've been trying to sort out my stupid life, and decided to just do nothing for a while. Well, nothing except for work. Gotta keep paying those bills, you know? It's probably no consolation that this chapterhas been sitting idle on my computer for months now as well, is it? Ha…ha? _

_SUMIMASEN! GOMENNASAI! SUMIMASEN! SORRY! EXCUSE MOI! SCUZI! How many ways can I say…._

_ **I'M SORRY!** _


	9. Chapter 9

**Usual Disclaimers apply**

_Where had it all gone wrong?_

It was simple enough – find Malfoy and take him back to Hogwarts where, presumably, Snape and Dumbledore would question him, and he, Harry Potter, saviour of the wizarding world, would go off back into the wide blue yonder, knowing that his one time rival was still alive and mostly well. Instead, he had somehow found himself with a slight crush on the helpless blonde (damn his hero complex to hell), and not only that, he had just done something… naughty.

Not just naughty, but outright _bad_, something that had the potential to get him blown into smithereens if the wrong people found out. Rabid fans not included. Harry mentally shuddered to think of how a certain potions master might react if he ever found out what had happened the previous night after a drugged up Harry and Draco had made it back to Harry's apartment.

Harry Potter, the Boy-who-lived (to-loathe-that-name), had literally humped Draco Malfoy. Or was it the other way around? Either way, Harry now found himself in a rather compromising position of lying half naked in his bed, pants undone, half covered by a warm – and dare he say, _very _cute looking – Draco Malfoy who was asleep with one pale arm draped over his chest.

_Is it wrong to think of ones schoolyard enemy as cute?_ Admittedly though, Draco did look slightly better than the last time that Harry had seen him; the bruises that he had sustained the first night that they had met had faded, and he looked semi-decent for a homeless person. Harry smirked at the thought. Even though Malfoy had been living on the streets, he looked clean and didn't smell as though he may not have bathed in a while. It seemed that there were some things that didn't change if you were a Malfoy, regardless to the circumstances that you might find yourself in. Tilting his head back to stare at the ceiling, he snorted to himself.

"Oh. My. God"

Startled, Harry let out a very unmanly yelp and fell out of the bed as he tried to roll from view, nearly dragging Malfoy onto the cold floor with him. After a moment, he crawled back up the bed, rubbing at his elbow which he had hit on the floor as he fell. Looking over, he saw the gaping face of Hermione, who was staring at him, mouth wide open in surprise.

"Herm! How did you get in here! And when! And why didn't I hear you?" Completely flustered, Harry tried to pretend it was an everyday occurrence to wake up half dressed next to your one-time school rival with suspicious stains on both of your pants. _Yes… everything was just fine and dandy this morning._

Finally closing her mouth, Hermione gave him a glare. "Firstly, I would like to remind a certain person that when they tell someone that they will "Be right back", it is usually taken to mean that they will actually come back, instead of disappearing out the door with a blonde attached to them like a limpet. Secondly, to answer you questions, I have a key, which _you _gave to me, which I only used because I was worried that you might have been tired after staying out all night, and I didn't want to disturb you if you were worn out. But I suppose you might be "worn out" for different reasons?" she said, smirking.

"Herm…" It took Harry a few moments to realise that Hermione had seen him leaving with Draco the previous night, which caused him to blush and then stare at her with a horrified expression.

"Oh, relax! Personally, I think you're really cute together!"

_Okay, SO not a reaction that I had imagined from Hermione. _"So, Hermione, you're not angry at me or anything?"

"Hey! Just thank Merlin that I didn't bring Ron here with me this morning! He would be having a seizure on the floor right about now if he had seen this!" With that, she burst out laughing hysterically. "Oh, oh, he'd probably do that thing where he turns a deep red and kind of makes those 'gurgle-gurgle' noises, and then he'd forget to breathe and he'd turn purple …. and …. and…. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" with that, Hermione burst out laughing and collapsed into the chair that was behind her, periodically making little gurgling noises and then laughing more.

_Thank god that Ron really isn't here, _thought Harry. _He'd be going off if he knew that Hermione was making so much fun out of him…_ finally deciding that it was time to stop Hermione before she ran out of oxygen, not to mention woke the sleeping blonde up with her giggling, Harry stood up. "Hermione! Snap out of it! Are you in shock or something? Plus," he added, gesturing to the bed, "you'll wake him up." How Malfoy had managed to sleep through all the commotion that Hermione had been making he'd never know, but it would be for the best if he remained asleep for the moment.

Finally, Hermione started to calm down from her laughing fit. "I'm sorry Harry." She paused as she straightened herself up in the chair, taking a few deep calming breaths. "OK. I think it was just the shock – I just had to get it out of my system somehow. Not to mention seeing you sprawled on the floor was quite funny as well. Now tell me, how did you find him? Where? And how on earth did you both end up in your bed half naked?" Settling back into the chair, Hermione looked at Harry pointedly, raising a finely shaped eyebrow at him. "Well?"

Slowly, Harry stood up, back towards Hermione as he tried to surreptitiously do up his fly. Clearing his throat, he slowly walked over to flop over in the couch across from his friend. Rubbing his eyes, he started to tell her how after he had gotten into the bathroom, he had been pushed from behind by someone into the stall, and how Malfoy had slipped him some kind of drug, which, in Harry's opinion, must have had some kind of aphrodisiac effect, because all he could vaguely remember was lots of snogging, a taxi, and snippets of a very 'interesting' night. "And then, of course, I received a wake up call from a dear, brilliant, mad, delusional and scary friend…" Harry was rewarded with a mock-offended gasp before a cushion was thrown at his head. Hermione giggled, then looked over to the bed where Draco was still sleeping. Glancing between it and Harry, she stood up and walked over to it, leaning over to get a better view of the blonde. Looking closely, she examined the side of his face she could see and the fading bruises on his arms.

Walking back over to her seat, she gave Harry a small frown. "From what you're saying Harry, about how he slipped you that pill while you were in the club, I'd have to say that, obviously, it was some kind of muggle drug. And from the way that you were describing last night, he was probably already high on whatever it was before he slipped one to you. Given his state the first time that you found him, and from the few track marks that I've seen on his arms both times that he has been here, I would think that it's safe to say that Malfoy may suffer from substance abuse issues.

"Add that to the fact that he doesn't seem to remember any of us at all, or anything from his Hogwarts days…. well, it probably be best if we got him to Snape and Dumbledore as soon as possible, don't you? They would be the best people that could help him with his deal with his problem at this point in time, especially Professor Snape."

Hermione sure could be scary in the mornings, Harry decided. He also had to agree with most of what she was saying. Although Dumbledore may not be welcomed by the Malfoy heir in his time of need, he was always good for solid, kindly advice, while Snape had an obviously closer relationship with the young man, apart from being his head of house for so many years. The potions master and former Death Eater would be able to offer much more support and understanding than most anyone that was left alive.

Harry also knew that Snape would not begrudge the fact that Harry would take an interest in the blonde's development. During the war, the potions master had built up a certain grudging respect for the boy hero, a matter that was helped through the fact that Harry had approached him on order to take up Occlumency again and had managed to maintain his focus in the subject. Though Snape might find it odd, he would not try to sabotage his chances to become Draco's friend.

"There's just one problem with that Herm." Harry said, looking over his friend. "How are we supposed to get him to Hogwarts? I just can't just apparate us both there, could I? And we can't floo either, not that I have a connection. Flying is totally out of the question as well. Driving would probably just take too long, and I don't even have a car to drive all the way there. The best bet would be to take a train there, but do you think he would even agree to come with me?"

Hermione looked back over at him, ad contemplated the problem at hand. Finally, she seemed to come up with a suitable solution. "Never mind, Harry. The train will have to do. I'll go arrange some tickets for you two to get to Hogsmeade for this afternoon. It would be better if you got there at night anyway, so he won't be overwhelmed by the sight of the school. You, meanwhile, can go get dressed, and then try to persuade him to go with you when he gets up." Looking back over at the still sleeping blonde, she grinned and turned back. "I'm sure if he gives you too much trouble you can just use a small persuasion charm on him or something. It _is _important that we get him to help as soon as possible though." With a toss of her hair, she stood up and walked over to the front door of the apartment, grabbing her bag from a table as she walked past.

"Oh, and Harry?" she asked as she was just about to step out of the door.

"Yeah?"

"Don't go taking advantage of him now, you hear?"

"Hermione!" he exclaimed, blushing a bright red. Picking up a shoe, he threw it towards her, only to have it hit the door as she shut it behind her, giggling the whole way.

* * *

Draco woke up to the sound of something hitting what may have been a door, or something being dropped. Still a bit groggy, he rolled over, stretching his arms out in front of him before opening his eyes and blinking a few times as his eyes adjusted to the light.

Another unfamiliar ceiling. As far as ceilings went, this one wasn't too bad. No signs of water damage, and no suspicious stains or bits of mould growing on it. Nice and clean and free of cobwebs as well, he was slightly pleased to note.

Turning his head, he took a look around the apartment he was in, and was slightly surprised to see that he recognised where he was. It was the same apartment that he had woken up in that time that he had been attacked in the alleyway and been rescued. Sitting up, he looked around to see if he could find the owner. What he did find, however, was the fact that he was missing his shirt, and his pants were undone. Thinking for a moment, he remembered what had happened the previous night; how he had practically ambushed the man, Harry, if he remembered correctly, and how they had come back here after a heated taxi ride. Hearing some soft shuffling, he looked up.

There, over at the kitchen counter, was the owner of the apartment, apparently in the middle of making some coffee. Draco took the opportunity to study the shirtless back of the man in front of him. _Hmmm, he's got nice shoulders, and he looks quite toned…_ Silently getting up, he softly padded over to the kitchen, right behind the shirtless man.

On closer inspection, he saw that there seemed to be a few small bite marks on the tanned shoulders, as well as a few scratch marks on his back. Gingerly reaching out, Draco traced one of the scratch marks with his index finger.

* * *

Harry had been deep in thought when he had walked over to the kitchen counter in order to make some coffee to start his day. What if Draco just wanted to leave once he woke up? Would he be able to convince him to stay? Shaking his head, he just went back to staring at his kettle, wishing that it would boil his water faster. He was loathe to use magic for such a simple task; besides, what had he bought the kettle for in the first place? Turning his attention back to the matter at hand, Harry was startled to suddenly feel a delicate finger tracing a line on his back. Quickly turning his around, he came face to face with Draco.

"Uhhhhh…… good morning?" _Yeah, real intelligent there Potter! _

"Morning. Sorry about those…." With that, Draco vaguely gestured to Harry's shoulders. Harry, slightly confused, just screwed up his brow in puzzlement.

"Sorry for what?" Had Draco Malfoy just apologised to him?

"For these," with that, he lifted his hand up to trace a few spots on Harry's shoulder, and Harry had to fight hard to repress a shiver of excitement. "…and these…" Slender arms wrapped around Harry, once again tracing lines near his shoulder blades. Leaning forward, Draco closed in just enough to whisper in Harry's ear. "I must have done that last night when we were in bed."

This time, Harry couldn't repress the shiver that ran throughout his body. Draco Malfoy, Slytherin sex god, the Ice Prince, had his arms wrapped around him, and was whispering seductively in his ear about what they had done in bed. This had to be some kind of bizarre, bizarre dream. Hearing the kettle boiling and the click as it shut itself off brought Harry back to his senses. Slowly disentangling himself from the blonde, he took a reluctant step back.

"Would you like some coffee? Sorry, we'll have to go out to breakfast; I haven't really got any food in the house." At this, he blushed slightly. He had been meaning to go out to do some grocery shopping, but just hadn't had the time since he was preoccupied with looking for Malfoy. Looking at Malfoy now though, he decided that the blonde would have to find something else to wear.

Walking away from the kitchen, he opened up a drawer and took out a pair of jeans and a green turtleneck sweater. "You may want to put these on before we do go out though – your other clothes are a bit… stained" Harry tried his hardest not to blush as he looked down at Draco's pants. Nodding, Draco walked over to Harry, undoing his pants as he went. All of a sudden, he stopped and laughed. Not understanding what was so funny, Harry looked at him questioningly.

"I think that this is the first time that someone has tried to get me _into _a pair of pants instead of out of them…"

"Oh, shut up." said Harry, walking away to the door to the apartment, blushing furiously. "There's a nice little café a few minutes away, we'll go there for breakfast." Harry waited until Draco had managed to pull on the sweater and made his way out of the door before locking the door behind him, and leading the way to the café, thinking of ways to get Draco to Hogwarts the whole way there.

**Sorry, RL has been a total bitch, and work sucks! Meanwhile, have you all gone and seen Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire yet? How I would love to be Moaning Myrtle in the Prefects Bathroom... (disregarding the fact that Dan Radcliffe is only like, 16 or something) o**

**Flame me, Review, whatever, as long as you leave me an opinion! Come on, I know you want to...**


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